Subject: 'Letters of Appointment' for (new) Trustees

We are a Charity and a Company Limited by Guarantee, based in Scotland. I currently undertake the Administration around our Board of Trustees.

We have recently recruited some new trustees. As part of our on-going wish to improve our Governance structures I thought it might be a good plan to have a Letter of Appointment, or similar, given to Trustees as part of their Induction & Appointment Pack. This would detail their date of election/co-option, terms of office, re-election, non-renumeration, position as Trustee and as Company Director etc.

The detail of their terms of office, re-elections etc are, naturally, in the Articles of Association, which is included in thier packs, but I thought a Letter of Appointment would give both the Trustees and the Staff an at-a-glance reference to Trustees appointment details.

I wondered if any other organisations did anything similar? Or do you have a different way to approach this? Would you be willing to share your practices?

I would like to introduce this for our new Trustees initially, but with a view to expanding it to the other Trustees as they are re-elected, or not, at the AGM.

With thanks Teresa

Dear Teresa

Sounds like a really good belt-and-braces approach - will remind trustees of what is expected of them once they are appointed and 'in post'. I suggest you might want to make sure the tone is sufficiently supportive and does not sound too forbiding (we all respond better to encouragement than to the notion that we may be judged and found wanting!)

As far as examples are concerned, I am aware that  Kings College London Students Union is developing an 'letter of commitment' for its trustees; its CE Steve Vaid is the person to contact in the first instance.

I'm sure the new trustees with whom you pilot this it will also have useful reflections that you will  consider before you role it out. So do let us know what you do, how it is received and whether you are prepared to make your documents available on the site.

Good wishes

Ruth

Hi Ruth,

Thanks for you reply. It is definitely intended as a support rather than a stick! Good to know I am not thinking of something that is totally out-of-whack. Thank you for the contact suggestion, I will be interested to see what they are working on.

I will report back once we have something worked out. I'm pretty sure my Organisation would be happy to share the document, but I'll need to get the OK first.

Off topic. I have to say I am heartily glad to have found your site. I'm afraid I can't remember where I happended upon it from, but I think it is a fantastic idea and I really hope it takes off. It is a great support to me to know that there is somewhere I can ask questions of like-minded people who are dealing with similar issues.

Teresa

Dear Theresa

Great! Do let us know what you decide and what happens (we can all learn from it).

Glad you find the site useful...that's what we hoped it would be. Tell others and help us get the word out; the more users, the greater potential for learning (and reduced likelihood of 're-inventing the wheel'!

Keep in touch

Ruth

Hello all,

I was pointed to the 'Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators' (ICSA) and I have found a rich vein of useful Governance-related documents aimed at the NFP sector, including a specimen Letter of Appointment. http://icsa.org.uk/assets/files/pdfs/guidance/070607.pdf.

Full Guidance list they have published is here: http://icsa.org.uk/knowledge?c=1 It covers both Corporate and NFP areas.

I thought others might find them useful too. T